fruit notes

Melons are beginning to slow down so we wanted one last shot of our favorite Sivan Charentais melons from Carine and Robert at Sun Tracker Farm. Growing up, I was more of a green-flesh melon eater. The cantaloupes you’d find in the stores were pretty sub-par: pale orange and crunchy, faintly sweet but devoid of any aroma. I remember I’d always go for the juicier, sweeter honeydew, using my fork to push the cantaloupe to the far side of my plate. Apart from the tomato, it’s hard to come up with a fruit that’s been done a more savage disservice by industrial ag than the melon. Picture the bland, pastel-hued cellulose on offer at the complimentary continental breakfast, available every day of the year, unchanging except in its country of origin. With this backdrop, a properly-ripened melon grown for flavor is a revelation. I can easily say that Sun Tracker’s Charentais melons have been life-changing for me. These small French melons are extremely aromatic, radiant orange, firm but juicy, and so incredibly flavorful. My 96-year-old grandma instantly recognizes them when I cut them up for her. She knows them – like I hope some of you do now, too – as Carine’s melons. Store in the fridge to enjoy your melon chilled. Grown organically by Sun Tracker Farm in Guinda.

These Warren pears are soft and buttery, incredibly juicy, and just so tasty. Hot take, but taking my first bite out of a perfectly ripe Warren made me forget all about peaches. As summer winds down and fall is right around the corner, pear juice dripping down my arm makes for a smoother transition. Warrens are unique because they’re almost free of stone cells, the part of the fruit that makes for a gritty texture in most varieties of pears (and guava!). This is part of what makes the Warren pear so special: there’s nothing standing in the way of you and its buttery soft texture! In a world of hardy pears stored for months and shipped long distances, Warrens don’t make the cut, so they’re rarely grown commercially. We’re so lucky to find these beautiful pears locally in Northern California. If they’re showing golden color – maybe even a blush of red, they are ripe and ready to be eaten. Store in the fridge once they’re ripe or store on the counter if they need more time. Grown organically by Double Wild Farm in Oroville.

It has been a tough year for blackberries. Some of the farmers that grow our favorite blackberries really struggled with the mid-summer heatwaves, which decimated yields and affected flavor. It made for a shorter (and smaller) season. But I think of September as blackberries’ second season. Farmers in milder climates, like the Watsonville area, will harvest blackberries and raspberries until the first frost hits in mid-to-late November. When Javier texted a photo of a Prime Ark blackberry in the palm of his hand, I was stunned by the size! He said they’re huge, plump, and sweet – and he’s right: they are so delicious right now. We should see them thriving for another 2-3 weeks. Hooray for juicy and delicious blackberries! Store in the fridge. Grown organically by JSM Organics in Royal Oaks.

Toby’s Coffeecake persimmons are a sure sign we’re transitioning to fall. Coffeecake persimmons are a Fuyu-type, which means they are flatter, non-astringent, and can be eaten firm. Coffeecake persimmons are one of the earliest persimmon varieties, ripening weeks before Fuyus come onto the scene. This variety has spiced notes that are associated with cinnamon pastries (hence the name) that compliment the sweetness! A cross section of these Coffeecake persimmons will reveal a speckly brown flesh inside. These are harvested firm, ripe, and sweet. Persimmons will continue to ripen on the counter and the flesh will become softer, if that’s your preference. Store these on the counter. Grown organically by Free Spirit Farm in Winters. 

With most apricot, aprium, and plum varieties now behind us, we’re into the late bloomers of stone fruit. Flavorfall is one such pluot that can hang on the tree until October. These are giant pluots with maroon skin and amber flesh. Toby’s caught some sun which resulted in a stunning gradient of colors across the skin. Its flavor is sweet and it’s juicy even when firm. A Flavorfall tastes like the well-nurtured love child of a Black Kat (in last week’s boxes) and a Flavor Grenade pluot. But maybe that’s just me! Store on the counter, especially if you want to give them 1-2 days to soften a bit. Grown organically by Free Spirit Farm in Winters. 

Encore appearances

I still remember the best-tasting peach I had ever eaten. I had just started working at the Ferry Plaza farmers market for Eatwell Farm. It was towards the end of the market day. Things had started to slow down but it wasn’t quite time to clean up yet. Lucky for me, I was working alongside Lorraine, one of the owners of Eatwell Farm. She suggested I go over to get some peaches from Woodleaf Farm – they have the BEST peaches, she said. She handed me some cash and sent me on a mission. The tables were covered with big, beautiful peaches glowing in the afternoon sun.  The sign read “O’Henry peaches.” I grabbed some for Lorraine and a couple for myself. The details of my memory are fuzzy (like a peach hehe) but whatever happened sent me back the following week, urgently seeking more O’Henry peaches. Lucky for me, there was one last week in the season! Every year since, I’ve sought them out. I’ve had so many amazing and “best-tasting” peaches since then, but I think for a lot of us, a fruit that we decide to call our favorite often comes from a similar memory. It’s the power of nostalgia and these sensory-rich experiences that shape our lives. For me, this was an early revelation about the importance of varietals that’s since become an obsession with seeking fruit by varieties. The O’Henry peach is forever etched into my mind as maybe the first best-tasting peach I had, so memorable that it’s my favorite. I now get to source O’Henry peaches from the same orchard, handed down twice and now, beginning this season, cared for by friends and a new generation of farmers. The peaches are all the more delicious for it. Store on the counter. Grown organically by Double Wild Farm in Oroville.

Imagine my delight when I learned there was a mango grown in California! It was my first season as a produce buyer and I was so stoked about these organic California Keitt mangoes. The Keitt is green-skinned and BIG, averaging about 1.5 pounds each. They have a sweet, nearly fiberless flesh and a small pit. Mangoes were first planted in the Coachella Valley in 1984 and a collective of growers now farm on a total of 250 acres. Corona-College Heights, a citrus packer in Riverside, markets the mangoes under the “Ava” label for the grower collective. (The label is named after one of the mango growers’ daughters.) These growers are the only ones producing at a commercial-scale in the state. In the years since, I’ve discovered newer, shinier (tree-ripened) mangoes – hello Wong Farms!! – but I still have a deep appreciation for these California-grown mangoes. They’re delicious! I’m grateful for the weeks in September and October when Keitts are in season. Keitt mangoes remain green when ripe so you can tell it’s ripe when it yields to gentle pressure (like an avocado!) These may need 2-4 days on the counter to become fully ripe. Grown organically by Corona-College Heights in Riverside County.